Declaration of Independence from Dieting

For the U.S. Independence Day, we were inspired to re-write the Declaration of Independence as a declaration to never diet again.

It’s interesting that so much of the original text was appropriate for explaining why women everywhere should break their ties with dieting.

Please join us in declaring your independence from dieting. Leave your name in the comments section by 3:30 EDT on Tuesday, July 3rd, to have your “signature” added to the document and we’ll post an updated version on Independence Day.

Encourage the women in your life who have wasted too much time dieting to join us as well. You can share this blog postvia Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest.

Here is the transcription below.

Declaration of Independence from Dieting

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one woman to dissolve the emotional bands which have connected her with one diet attempt after another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, a separation from dieting to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, with respect to her body, mind, and soul that she should declare the causes which impel her and other like-minded women to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all women are unique, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.That to secure these rights, women have previously attempted diets with hopes of yielding such results. However, whenever any Form of dieting becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute a new way of feeding one’s self, laying its foundation on such principles as mindful eating, permission, flexibility, intuition, and the wisdom of the body and choosing foods in a way that to them shall seem most likely to affect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate many food choices, but not all, and accordingly, past eating experiences hath shewn, that womankind are more disposed to suffer from dieting, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the restriction to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and fruitless diet attempts, pursuing invariably the same Object of a smaller body, yields the same results of frustration, demoralization, feelings of failure, guilt, and in many cases weight gain, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such restrictions, and to consider a new approach for their future health and happiness. Such has been the patient sufferance of these women who have tried diet after diet; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former relationship with food. Our history of dieting is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations of the joy and pleasure that food can provide, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over so many women. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

~ If one diet worked perfectly, there would never be the need for another, yet there are countless diet plans available.

~ Dieting, for many women, has been shown to result in weight gain over time.

~ Dieting often demonizes foods making them more appealing as forbidden fruit.

~ Dieting generates stress and feelings of failure for many.

~ Dieting is the antithesis of healthy eating.

~ Dieting results in most people regaining the weight they lost and more.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the diet-weary, in the name, and by Authority of good sense, appealing to women everywhere, solemnly publish and declare, That these women ought to be Free and Independent of ineffective and unhealthy diets; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to restriction, starvation, deprivation, guilt and the self-judgment that diets create; and that as Free and Independent women, they have full Power to decide what to eat, when to eat, and why to eat, based on their personal needs and desires, and to do all other Acts and Things which normal eaters may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the wisdom of the body, we mutually pledge to each other to never diet again.

The New York Center for Eating Disorders joins forces with the declaration of independence from dieting. Indeed, Mary Anne Cohen’s book is entitled French Toast for Breakfast: Declaring Peace with Emotional Eating!

Yes! Let’s abolish diet mentality. I believe in chowing vibrantly in ways that work for your body. That’s how I’ve dropped 40 pounds and kept it off 4-1/2 years now, and more importantly have inner peace. I don’t diet. I just eat 🙂

YES. I declare myself independent from ever dieting again. I pledge to LOVE my body, honor what she wants. If she wants some ice cream, she will have some. Good healthy food, good healthy amounts, lots of dance and movement and other fun exercise, NO MORE GUILT or FEAR of PLEASURE!

Wonderful post Robyn! I am 100% on board! Please add my name to the list: Janet Zimmerman. I’m so thankful for all the wisdom & promotion of whole body health that you all do at Green Mountain Fox Run & around the country. Keep on spreading truth & freedom!!

What a wonderful way to celebrate the 4th of July by declaring our independence from obsessive thoughts — blame, guilt and shame. With each bite let awareness and compassion nourish us. Let trust follow this healing. Let us rejoice in the many names that help us remember — We Are Not Alone!

Yes, I too, am late for the original signature but have just returned from vacation….My reading material during that vacation has been Dr. Bacon’s Health at Every Size and I am ready, willing, and able to declare my independence from dieting!

I am late as well…however I find that indeed dieting can be destructive and I will mindfully not allow myself to diet and encourage others to be mindful. That truly there is a place for eating right based on the individual IE…Gluten sensitive, lactose intolerant, etc…I believe this is eating right for the individual vs a diet order. Though not part of the Independence Declaration I would also like those tied to a medical diet also be freed to follow as an individual with specific needs.

I am always glad to hear women swear off dieting. It is so destructive, particularly of our natural ability to know what and how much to eat. I was a normal weight child who was put on a diet by a weight-obsessed mother (a way to exert control in the midst of emotional chaos), and it damaged my life horribly. Combine dieting with untreated hypothyroidism, and you have created a recipe for disaster. Hurrah for every women who says she will never diet again!

Agreed Amy, it’s not just an issue that women struggle with. I wrote it from a woman’s perspective as I am a woman, and I mainly work with women, but I fully agree that this is fruitless cycle that men can be stuck in as well. Thank you all so much for all the feedback and for supporting this. I appreciate you taking the time to read this and “sign on.” Happy 4th everyone!